The Monsters Who Hide in The Dark

Chapter 1- A Dead End Job

"Hey! Wake up, Have you seriously been sleeping through this?!" Lt. Devore huffed and smacked Mark on the top of the head. He got up and lazily looked up to James Devore, his lieutenant and giver of deadly boring missions. Mark groaned and leaned back in his chair. "I don't care if you sleep later but stay awake for this." Lt. Devore said as he walked back to a cork board with pictures pinned with a string attaching some of them together. Mark crossed his arms. "Sorry, Sorry, I'll try to be somewhat awake."

"Alright. Okay, So to sum it up people have been going missing from a school nearby. It's your job to see why. We've had the school closed for about three months now and the power might be on, but I'm not sure." Lt. Devore picked up a folder on a desk next to the board. Stepping forward he threw it onto the table Mark was sitting at. Mark picked it up and opened, his eyes growing wide as he sorted through over 20 pictures of students and teachers, one picture he picked up was a high school soccer team that had apparently disappeared during a practice. "All of these people just... disappeared? Gone? Poof?" Mark pulled his hands through his messy blond hair, his face now full of worry.

"Yep, gone. Just like that. Over the course of a couple months, people just disappeared either one by one or entire groups like that soccer team."

"There also all different ages too. Some in high school, others are teachers or even young kids." Mark huffed and ruffled his already bed head hair. He picked up a mug of cold coffee but quickly put it back down after a swig of it. Lt. Devore sighed, "Yeah, that's why we need someone to do this because all of their parents are freaking out that we haven't done anything yet." Mark stood from his chair, and tightened his tie and moved the collar of his dress shirt around.

"Yeah, Okay. I'll get on it but it's probably a dead case. Like all the other ones." Mark walked over to the door and took his plaid jacket from a nearby chair and walked out the door as Lt. Devore mumbled something and looked at the cork board. Mark smiled politely as he passed colleagues, some had hands full of papers others just talking or lazing about. The police station had never really been busy, there were never any murders or kidnappings. Which is good, but boring for the detectives like Mark and even worse for the police who had to deal with with the small things. Like jaywalking or speeding. Mark walked through the hallways and into the break room, it was fairly empty except for the few doing paperwork on the tables or the one playing games on their phone. Mark walked over to a counter with an assortment of snacks and grabbed a soft donut he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into. He smiled as he slid over and sat down next to a dark-skinned man who was typing furiously on his laptop. 

He wore a police uniform, the peaked hat on a pile of unorganized papers. he barely even glanced up from his laptop before leaning back and closing it. "That donut has so many calories." his brown eyes scanning the pink frosted treat. "Yeah, but they're delicious calories that make me happy," Mark replied taking a huge bite of the donut. The man sighed, "true, true. So what did the big guy assign you Marky boy?" he crossed his arms and picked up a mug of fresh steaming coffee. "I got the case of the missing kids at the closed jr high. And you know I hate being called that, Charles."

"I know, but not too shabby, I've just got a lot of paperwork that's due before the end of the day." He shrugged and pushed a few papers to the side. He passed a flashlight that was hidden underneath them. "Thought I was going to need this today. I was almost certain that the power would go because of the storm outside." He passed the flashlight to Mark and he took it and spun it in his hands. 

"Thanks, man, I'll be sure to give it back when it's done." Mark stood, "I better scatter so the boss doesn't see me talking. I'll see you later dude." He put on his plaid jacket and smiled at Charles who smiled back. "See ya dude, oh and don't get kidnapped yourself will ya?" Mark exited the room chuckling to himself. He passed office after office and looked in a mirror on one of the walls. He looked at his blond undercut hair style. The sides of his hair were shaved down and the top was long and looked fluffy. He blew a few stands out of his eyes and smiled to himself, 'I'm looking pretty fine, if i do say so myself.' He thought before taking one last look at his hair with his sky blue eyes. He stepped back and continued down the hallways, turning left and right. down two flights of stairs before greeting a few officers at the front desk before pushing open the clear glass doors and stepping out into the dark stormy day.